Bigger Is Better
by pandorabox82
Summary: Penelope has found herself mooning over the one man she would never have a chance with in a million years. And then, at her Halloween party, she is suddenly offered the opportunity to spend one magical night with him. But will she be able to take that chance? Written from the first of Bren Gail's wonderful prompts!


"This is the perfect pumpkin, Aunt Penelope!" Jack said as he hugged a huge pumpkin. She met Aaron's eyes and shrugged, smiling a little.

"Are you sure, buddy? That is really big," she said, coming up to his side. Her sweater matched the color of the pumpkin he had picked and she knew that Hotch was taking a picture as she knelt down by his son's side. She just hoped that the pumpkin wouldn't blend in with her sweater too much.

"Well, Beth always said bigger is better. And she always looked to Daddy for agreement when she said it."

Penelope felt her cheeks redden as she tried not to laugh or stare at Hotch's crotch. Looking up at him, she saw that his cheeks were bright red, as well, and she couldn't help it, she let out a tiny giggle. He glared at her and that caused her to giggle even harder, falling to her knees next to Jack. "Are you okay, Aunt Penelope?"

"I'll be fine, Jackers. It's just a joke between adults." He pouted at her and she reached out to ruffle his hair. He giggled and tried to lift the pumpkin, only to fall back on the ground.

"Daddy, you have to take my pumpkin up to the lady. This is the one that I want." Hotch came up to them and picked the gourd up easily. Penelope sighed a little at the move, feeling her heart lurch a little. She knew he was still with Beth, and that they were going strong, but a little piece of her heart still belonged to him. It had ever since the Fisher King case.

"Well, let's head out. Aunt Penelope doesn't have much free time, Jack, and we want to get the pumpkin carved with her today, right?" Jack nodded enthusiastically running on ahead of them to look at the different fall decorations. "I hope you don't mind spending the day with us, Penelope. Beth is out in San Francisco working on getting a new installation up in their modern art museum."

"I love spending time with you, Boss Man. Jack gives me good practice, should I ever decide to have kids. Plus, I get to give him back at the end of the day." She smiled sunnily up at him and he smiled back.

"You'd be a great mother, you really would." The sudden disclosure set her heart at ease for some odd reason and she nodded, looking down at the ground. "So, have you decided what you're going to be for Halloween yet?"

She nodded. "I'm going as Rainbow Brite. It was one of my favorite cartoons when I was younger, and I've always wanted to go as her. I saw a picture of her aged up, along with She-Ra and Strawberry Shortcake. So, it kind of inspired my choice this year. I tried to talk Jayje into being She-Ra, but she turned me down. She had the perfect hair to be the Princess of Power."

"And who were you going to try and get to be Strawberry Shortcake?"

"Strauss." She heard Hotch choke on a laugh and giggled a little herself. "I know, odd choice, but, think about it. She would have been absolutely adorable in a red wig with freckles. And she was up for it, if JJ agreed to be She-Ra."

"What?" Hotch stopped and looked at her in amazement.

"Yeah, I brought the idea to her first. I figured she would be the hard one to win over. Turns out it was really my best friend who refused to play ball." She shrugged. "It's not going to stop me from being Rainbow Brite, though."

"Well, I can't wait for the party tonight, then. What is JJ going as?"

"I have not one clue, Hotch. I wish I did." He paid for Jack's pumpkin while she purchased a bushel of apples. "So, I'll meet you and Jack back at your apartment." He nodded and Jack hugged her before following after his father. Penelope grinned and set the apples in her passenger seat. The drive to Hotch's didn't take long and she parked near his door.

Going up to his door, she knocked. Jack let her in moments later and tugged her into the kitchen. "Daddy covered the kitchen table with newspaper already and he's just about to start the surgery." His eyes were much too bright, and Penelope wondered how much sugar he'd had that morning already. "Oh, and Aunt Jessica made pumpkin rollups. They are so good, you have to have one!"

She clomped after him, pulled off-balance by his pulling. Hotch was sitting at the table, a butcher knife in his hand. "Ah, you made it in time for the dissection."

"That's rather gruesome, Hotch, don't you think?"

He shrugged. "That's what my dad always called it. Some traditions are hard to break." He thrust the blade into the top of the pumpkin and cut out the hole for them. "Here, Jack, you have to scoop out the gooey bits."

Jack clambered up on top of the table and began to pull out the stringy mess that contained the seeds of the pumpkin, tossing it into a large bowl. "Daddy's going to show me how to make roasted pumpkin seeds." She nodded and helped him to clean off the seeds before drawing the face that Jack wanted on his jack-o-lantern.

The hours passed quickly, and after Hotch had served lunch, she helped him and then made her goodbyes. "I'll see you tonight around eight, Hotch. I hope your costume is a good one."

"I think you'll like it, Garcia." He reached out and squeezed her shoulder lightly before opening the door for her. She left with a smile on her face as she thought about what she needed to do to get ready for the coming party.

Derek was already there, setting up the trays of sandwiches. "Welcome back, Baby Girl. I hope there weren't any accidents at the Hotchner home."

"No, it just took Jack some time to figure out what design he wanted for the face of his pumpkin. And then we had to make roasted pumpkin seeds." He just laughed at her and she swatted his arm before pulling out the red punch and ginger ale. Setting the two liters on the counter, she opened the first and carefully poured it into the punch bowl. When she had combined all four of the bottles, she opened the freezer and pulled out the bag of ice she had made earlier, adding it in.

"So, do you want to get ready first, or am I doing the honors?" Derek asked as he stepped behind her, pulling her into a tight hug.

"Sweetie, I think you should get ready first. My costume is going to take a little more time to get into than yours and I want to surprise everyone. You don't mind being the official greeter, do you?"

"That will be fine," he said as he pecked at her cheek. She giggled a little before sitting on the sofa, picking up her iPad and calling up Tiny Zoo. After she'd collected from and fed all her animals, she put her feet up on the coffee table, trying not to think about Hotch in any way other than platonic. It was getting so hard to conceal her feelings for the man.

Derek rejoined her a few minutes later and she grinned from ear to ear when she saw his costume. "You look amazing, Der! So very dapper."

"I was feeling a little like going with a classic man of horror. I even put in fangs for you, Baby Girl."

She laughed lightly and got up off the couch. "The others should start arriving in the next ten minutes or so. Remember, be nice to Strauss, if she comes. She didn't give me a firm answer."

"I can't believe you invited her."

"We have to be nice, Der. She's been through a lot this last year." He nodded and she kissed his cheek before heading into her bedroom and picking up her costume. It had taken forever to find the perfect fabrics and make the thing, but she was pleased with the results.

She closed the door to the bathroom and quickly stripped down to her bra and panties before pulling on the blue skirt. It flared out perfectly and she wiggled her hips, watching it sway in the mirror. Next came the boots and she zipped them carefully. The custom made boots had cost a pretty penny, but they looked beautiful on her legs.

Before she put the top on, she brought her hair up in a tight, high, ponytail, wrapping it around the curling iron and holding it for a few moments. As the curl sprang free, she sprayed it with hair starch before pulling on her blouse. With that finished, she began her makeup. The finishing touch was the purple star on her left cheek and she smiled at her reflection in the mirror. "It's now or never, Garcie."

Taking a deep breath, she opened the bathroom door and stepped out into her living room. There were quite a few people there already, and she waved to Anderson and Gina. The couple has dressed as Superman and Lois Lane, and they looked absolutely adorable. Moving further on into the group, she saw Derek talking with Will and JJ, who were also dresses as a pair – the Joker and Harley Quinn. She had to admit that the costumes looked great, but she felt a slight twinge of regret that the group costume had been quashed.

"Penelope!" She turned at the sound of Erin's voice and tried to swallow her squeal of delight. "You look amazing!"

"So do you, Erin. I can't believe you went through with the costume, even after I told you that Jayje wasn't up for it." She went to hug the woman, but stopped herself short, not knowing if they were friends enough to do so. The woman closed the distance between them and hugged her tightly.

From the corner of her eye, she saw Derek check out their boss. The short skirt did call attention to her ass, as did the striped stockings that ended an inch below the hemline. "So, who's checking me out?"

Penelope blushed bright red. "Um, Derek is. And Rossi."

"Well, Rossi will be coming home with me tonight, so it's no surprise there. Agent Morgan, though, that one surprises me." Erin sashayed over to Rossi's side, giving a flirty smile to Derek as she wrapped her arm around her lover's waist. Rossi had come dressed as the Purple Pie Man, and Penelope had to wonder what Erin had promised him to get him to agree to the costume.

Someone knocked on the door, and she went over and opened it. Standing there was her Boss Man, dressed like Murky Dismal. "Hotch?"

"A little birdy told me what you were planning, and how he was going as the villain counterpoint to a certain someone's heroine." He smiled gently at her as she led him into her apartment. "Jack asked a million questions about why I was painting myself green for tonight. Jessica had to finally drag him out of the apartment."

"Oh, I thought…"

"No, she's taking him for the weekend. I needed some time away from things."

The way he said that made her really look at him, noticing the bit of sadness in his eyes. "Is everything all right, Boss Man?"

"Beth and I are taking a break." She nodded in sympathy, clasping his hand as she led him over to the punch bowl. He poured them both a cup and she went with him into the living room, where they joined in on a game that Rossi and Erin were playing with Reid.

The hours passed by quickly, and soon the others began to leave. Erin was the first one to tug on Rossi's arm, and he made their goodbyes for them. Penelope once more caught Derek staring at Erin's ass and she giggled lowly. He swung his head to look at her, and she just shrugged, turning her face in to Hotch's shoulder.

"Well, I'm going to head out, too, Baby Girl. Unless you want me to help you clean up?"

She shook her head, about to tell him she would do it in the morning, when Hotch spoke up. "I'm going to help her clean up, actually. We'll see you Monday, Morgan."

He nodded as he left, and then they were alone. "So, a break, huh?"

"Uh huh. It was a mutual decision. She's going to be out there for some time, and, well, it was starting to get a little difficult between us." She leaned against him, letting his arms close around her waist. "She said that I should feel free to see other people, as she planned on doing so as well."

"Ah." It took a moment for his words to sink in to her brain. "_Ah_. And you're sure she won't consider it cheating?"

"No. We're both free at the moment."

"So am I." Their eyes met and she felt the sweet spark of electricity arc through them. "My bedroom is just through that beaded curtain." He nodded and stood, holding his hand out to her. Sighing happily, she took it and let him lead her there. This would fulfill every fantasy of hers, she was sure of it.

They sat on her bed, and he picked up her hand. "Even though this will probably be just one night, if Beth and I should ever go our separate ways, would you…"

"Yes, Aaron." She answered quickly, not wanting him to voice what was on his mind for some reason. Then she leaned forward and kissed him deeply, taking off his hat and setting it on the bedside table. This seemed to open the floodgates of passion between them and she let him push her back on the bed, to devour her with kisses.

Penelope found that she couldn't focus, couldn't reciprocate the pleasure that he was giving her, since the fire that he ignited burned so brightly, so warmly, and he was everywhere at once. It was better than she had ever imagined, though, and her orgasm just kept cresting. Finally, Aaron collapsed on top of her, covering her in his warmth. "You are amazing, Penelope." He kissed her forehead gently and she snuggled into him.

"Beth is right, you know. Bigger is better," she whispered as she looked into his eyes, a mischievous grin flitting across her face. He guffawed loudly before nuzzling his nose into her hair. "I'm just saying."

"You are adorable." He kissed the tender spot behind the lobe of her ear and she sighed. "I'll stay and help you clean up in the morning. Then we could go out for brunch." Penelope nodded and closed her arms around his waist, holding on to him tightly, not wanting this moment to ever end.


End file.
